The blog contains articles by the author which appear in various newspapers in Kashmir and are also available on the website: www.kashmirfirst.com

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

The “Opium” of the people!

(The
Hindutva wave of violence during the elections and after is not really against
Muslims and for the safety of the cows. It is an excuse to administer what Karl
Marx called the “Opium of the people” to the millions of poor Indians!)

The ultimate goal of
every religion is to explain the purpose of human existence to make it
meaningful. Without religion a human being is just like any other animal. Every
religion believes in an ultimate being, who is the creator, the sustainer and
the retirbutor. Without belief in religion, life becomes meaningless. Just an
animal existence without any purpose or goal. However, every religion also teaches
the equality of all human beings before the ultimate Being. Unfortunately, the
material greed and lust for power to rule over human beings totally distorts
the sublime religious beliefs. It becomes a tool in the hands of the few rich
to keep under millions of the teeming poor.

This distorted use of religion had
been explained by the great philosopher Karl Marx, the author of Das Kapital, which
is supposed to be the virtual bible of the communists. The full quote from Karl Marx translates as: "Religion
is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the
soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people".This quotation of Marx was further explained by Lenin while describing
the exploitation of the poor by the rich. “Those who toil and live in want all
their lives are taught by religion to be submissive and patient while here on
earth, and to take comfort in the hope of a heavenly reward. But those who live
by the labour of others are taught by religion to practise charity while on
earth, thus offering them a very cheap way of justifying their entire existence
as exploiters and selling them at a moderate price tickets to well-being in
heaven”.Charles Kingsley, acanonof theChurch of England, wrote this four
years after Marx: “ We have used the Bible as if it were a mere special
constable's hand book, an opium dose for keeping beasts of burden patient while
they were being overloaded, a mere book to keep the poor in order”.

Going
beyond the Communist beliefs totally negating religion by labelling it as a
tool of exploitation of the rich against the poor, if one studies the present
state of affairs; religion is being practically used to cause worldwide mayhem.
People are being exploited in the name of religion to unleash an era of mad
violence. Some of the most civilised and historical countries like Syria, Iraq,
Libya, and Yemen have been virtually destroyed in the name of religion. No
religion permits suicide. In fact, suicide is a big sin. However, one hears
every second day suicide bombers, sometimes very young kids fully brainwashed,
blowing themselves up in the name of religion! While the poor are killing and
blowing up each other in the name of various sects and beliefs, the rich are
collecting their bounties and piling up their wealth in foreign banks and as
material assets all over the world! Every second day there is disclosure of
un-proportionate assets and cash stashed in foreign banks. The panama papers
are haunting the rulers across the borders!

The
situation is same on this side but in a new garb. India has over 350 million
people living below poverty line who cannot afford even a single good meal in a
day. Almost half the population does not have access to treated and cured water
supply. Majority of population in rural areas eases themselves in open fields.
The same is the case with the basic healthcare. On the contrary the major chunk
of the budget goes to defence and security related purchases. India is the
largest importer of weapons in the world! The entire Indian economy is
controlled by the 6% upper caste people. The Hindutva wave for the protection
of cow and the open threat to Muslims from some of the top RSS leaders is to
create a religious frenzy to drown the real basic issues confronting the
majority of the population. Aakar Patel in his recent article mentions that
India is run by 6% upper caste Brahmins, Banias and Jains.

According
to Ram Punyani, “Communal
politics in India is primarily due to the absence of land reforms, absence of a
process of secularization and failure to reduce the hold of clergy”. The same
is being used as “opium” for the poor. So Modi with his colleagues in RSS and
BJP have found the best “Opium” which he is distributing in the form of Cow
Protection, Ram Mandir, Ghar Wapsi, and the Love Jihad. The idea is to make the
poor forget about the issues of Vikas or development. The slogan Sab Ka Saath,
Sab Ka Vikaas has been forgotten. Now religion is the most important issue. The
Hindu Religion has to overtake everything to usher “New India”, which would be
a Hindu Rashtra without any non-Hindus who can only stay as second class
citizens. They are asking Muslims to leave India and have started a systematic
campaign to target them everywhere accusing them of being outsiders.

In fact, those asking Muslims to leave India do not know that
most of the Indians are migrants from outside. According to Justice Markandey
Katju, the real inhabitants of India are the Adivasis! He says 90% Indians are
immigrants who chased the pre-Dravidian Adivasis into jungles. Only 7 to 8 % of
these original Indians are left now. He says Akbar the Great was not only the
greatest ruler of India but the greatest ruler of the world. When entire Europe
was engaged in total religious mayhem, he had given the philosophy of religious
tolerance. His top officials like Toddermal (Finance Minister), Birbal (Chief
Advisor), and Man Singh (Commander-in-Chief) were Hindus. India’s secular
tradition comes down from this great ruler which was followed by secular and
progressive leaders like Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. However, the present set up
is undermining and destroying the same and could eventually cause
disintegration of India! The secular and progressive people in India need to
wake up before the “Opium” has its full effect. Otherwise, the country is
heading for a disaster which may engulf the entire South Asia!